Derby++ User Guide
strings (not DIMensioned) are saved
Getting started
After powering on the computer, use the
cursors and Enter to select 128 BASIC
Enter, unless you want to start the Tape
Loader). The copyright message is
displayed. Press Enter again to start the
editor.
There are a number of differences from
48 BASIC, the UK version of 128 BASIC,
and even the original Spanish version of
128 BASIC on which this version is
based. For example, there is no
SPECTRUM command (because you can
select 48 BASIC from the boot menu).
You should take time to familiarize
yourself with the unique features of the
fastest version of 128 BASIC.
There are two differences that are not
immediately apparent. The first is that
almost all of the bugs in 48 BASIC, and
all the bugs in 128 BASIC are fixed. The
second is that variables are persistent,
that is they are not CLEARed when you
RUN a program. This is because it would
be very annoying to lose all the work you
had done in the full screen simple string
editor before you had saved it. Simple
when you SAVE your program.
The other menu options have the
following effects:
• Loader - Open the esxDOS NMI
browser (when using divIDE,
divMMC and so on). When you
autoload programs from the NMI
browser they run using the menu
ROM (similar to USR0 mode). If this
causes compatibility problems, try
loading from 48 BASIC or 128
BASIC instead. Loads the auto file
on a TNFS file system (when using
Spectranet).
• Tape Loader - Hold Enter when
selecting 128 BASIC to get this
option. You can use this after
mounting a tape in the NMI
browser to run programs that
require a 128 BASIC environment
(for example, splATTR).
• Diagnostics - Run the Spectrum +2
test program (RS232 test requires a
loopback adapter).
• 48 BASIC - Selects ROM 1 (the
original 1982 version of BASIC) and
lock paging. Use this for programs
that trigger 128 paging (for
example Jet Pac), or perform a
ROM checksum (for example Travel
with Trashman).
• TR-DOS - Enters the TR-DOS
command line (requires BetaDisk
interface or esxDOS TR-DOS
emulation). Commands are typed
out in full. The RETURN command
is ignored; press the reset button to
return to the boot menu. Programs
run using the menu ROM (similar to
USR0 mode). If this causes
compatibility problems, try loading
from 48 BASIC or 128 BASIC
 instead. You can enter the TR-DOS
command line from BASIC by
entering PRINT USR 15616.
If you have a 32K ROM machine, you
should use ROM2/ROM1. Under
esxDOS you will boot in USR0 mode.
You can lock paging from the Dr Slump
NMI browser. You can switch to 128
BASIC with the .128 command (or OUT
32765,16). In 128 BASIC you will have
to enter symbols the same way you do in
48 BASIC and some symbols may clash
with the extended editing commands.
Note: HiSoft BASIC will not work
because it requires the UK Spectrum 128
editor ROM to run. However, programs
compiled with it will run as normal.
Using the editor
The editor comprises three areas:
• Upper screen
• Lower screen
• Status line
When the editor starts, the cursor is in
the Lower screen, above the Status line.
You can switch the cursor between the
Upper and Lower screens by pressing
Edit. The Upper screen displays your
program listing. You can edit your
program directly from this area. From the
Lower screen you can enter direct
commands (DELETE, EDIT, RENUM,
WIDTH), use the running calculator, or
enter program lines. The Status line
displays the mode (EXTEND or GRAPH)
and if CAPS LOCK is enabled. You can
change the editor colours using the
standard commands (BORDER, INK and
PAPER).
Using the keyboard
The keyboard functions differently from
48 BASIC. Commands are typed out in
full, and EXTEND mode is not needed,
except to enter embedded control codes
or use the extended editing functions. To
produce a symbol, hold Symbol Shift and
press the key the symbol appears on. The
exception to this is the copyright symbol
(©) which is produced by pressing
Symbols Shift+I. When CAPS LOCK is
enabled, pressing Shift produces
lowercase letters.
Using the extended
editing functions
The extra editing functions originally
provided on the numeric keypad, are
remapped to the main keyboard:
SCREEN = Edit, DEL = Symbol Shift+E
PG UP = Extend D, PG DN = Extend F
HOME = Extend Z, END = Extend X
Entering control codes
You can use EXTEND mode to directly
enter control codes, just like in 48 BASIC.
But in 128 BASIC you will see the hidden
codes represented by a GG enter
any characters between the two Gs or
you will produce an error.
Extend n - INK (0 to 7)
Extend Shift+n - PAPER (0 to 7)
Extend 8 - BRIGHT 0
Extend 9 - BRIGHT 1
Extend Shift+8 - FLASH 0
Extend Shift+9 - FLASH 1
True Vid - INVERSE 0
Inv Vid - INVERSE 1
Use reserved words
as variables
In 48 BASIC you can use reserved words
as variables. But if you try to do this in
128 BASIC, the variable is converted to a
token. However, the tokenizer has two
modes of operation. If CAPS LOCK is
enabled when you press Enter, only
words in all CAPS are tokenized. For
example, LET Let = 1 would be accepted.
If CAPS LOCK is not enabled, everything
is tokenized. Variables are case
insensitive, so you can enter them as
lowercase or mixed case.
Entering direct
commands
Direct commands cannot be used in your
programs and can only be entered from
the Lower screen.
DELETE f, l - Delete lines f to l. To
delete a single line n enter DELETE n, n.
EDIT n - Edit line number n.
EDIT s$ - Edit the simple string s$ in the
full screen editor.
RENUM [l [,s]] - Renumber the
program starting at line l in steps of s.
WIDTH c - Set the column width of the
RS232 device to c columns.
Using TurboSound AY
128 BASIC supports up to six channels of
audio using the TurboSound AY
interface. You can use the PLAY
command as normal, but if a second AY
chip is available, channels 4 to 6 will
make use of it. For example, PLAY
"c","g","e","C","G","E". If only one AY chip
is available, these channels will be
ignored. However, all eight channels will
still be sent to a MIDI device if it is
connected.

Using ULAplus
ULAplus provides up to 64 colours on
screen at once using four CLUTs (colour
look up tables). Each CLUT is made up of
eight INK colours and eight PAPER
colours. A CLUT is selected by combining
the value of the BRIGHT and FLASH bits
of the attribute to give four possible
values. However, you cannot combine
colours from different CLUTs in a single
attribute cell. Derby++ simplifies this by
providing a default palette that enables
you to choose any INK or PAPER from a
16 color palette without having to think
about CLUTs.
To enable ULAplus enter PALETTE 64,1
(you can switch it off again with
PALETTE 64,0). The default palette uses
the same numbers for colours as the
standard Spectrum palette (0 is still
black). You set INK and PAPER as
normal. However, BRIGHT now only
applies to INK. To do the equivalent for
PAPER, use FLASH. Whereas the
standard Spectrum palette has 15
colours, in the default ULAplus palette,
bright black is in fact dark grey.
You can use the full range of
mathematical functions and variables
from BASIC. Enter your calculation and
press Enter. The results are displayed in
the Upper screen. Because you can also
enter program lines from the Lower
screen, if you want to enter a positive
number on its own you must prefix it
with a plus sign (+). To clear the
calculator memory, enter *0.
Using the full screen
simple string editor
From the Lower screen, enter EDIT s$,
where s$ is a simple (non-DIMensioned)
string you want to edit. The Status line is
similar to the one in 128 BASIC. It
displays the mode (EXTEND or GRAPH)
and status of CAPS LOCK (shown by
whether the status line is in uppercase or
lowercase). But it also shows the cursor
mode (INSERT, INDENT or REPLACE)
and if wrap is on or off.

Note: If you want to redefine the default

palette to continue to function as a 16-
color palette, you must set palette entries
in each CLUT (four times for each
colour).

Using the running

calculator

128 BASIC provides a running calculator

that you can use from the Lower screen.
Press Symbol Shift+Q to change the
cursor mode:
• INSERT - As you type, the content
is inserted at the cursor position.
• INDENT - Works like insert mode,
but when you press Enter, the next
line is indented by five characters.
• REPLACE - As you type, the
content replaces content after the
cursor position.
Press Symbol Shift+W to change the
wrap mode:
• ON - If a word breaks across a line,
it is moved to the next line.
• OFF - Words are allowed to break
across lines.
The extra editing functions originally
provided on the numeric keypad, are
remapped to the main keyboard:
EXIT = Edit, DEL = Symbol Shift+E
PG UP = Extend D, PG DN = Extend F
HOME = Extend C, END = Extend V
These editing functions perform a move,
unless Symbol Shift is held, in which case
they perform a delete:
< WRD = Extend A, > WRD = Extend S
< LINE = Extend Z, > LINE = Extend X
Using esxDOS
Derby++ enables you to use esxDOS
with 128 BASIC. The editor is completely
rewritten to prevent crashes caused by
the host hardware paging memory when
executing instructions in certain memory
areas.
After you start the editor, if the first
command you want to enter is an
esxDOS command, you must first type
REM and press Enter. Any command will
do, but this is necessary to flush the error
stack that esxDOS uses to interpret
commands.
You must enter esxDOS commands in
lowercase, but ensure CAPS LOCK is
enabled before you press Enter. This is
because the 128 BASIC tokenizer
converts uppercase characters to tokens
before esxDOS evaluates the line. For
example .MORE would be converted to
.M OR E
You can enter esxDOS commands that
.LS in
uppercase, but it is better to get into the
habit of always entering them in
lowercase.
If you want to use an esxDOS command
as the first command in a BASIC line, you
must prefix it with a colon. Otherwise
the running calculator will treat the
command as an undeclared variable. For
example, 10 : .ls.